My '96 Riviera

I just got her back to life....she’s been sitting for 2 years and needs a lot of cometic work....

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2600361743/
The back end...paints peeling really bad.....

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2600361895/
The rear deck....again paint issues.....

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2601191190/
This is the dent I have to fix....I’m not a bodywork guy so any tips will be appreciated. I was thinking of pounding it out through the inside of the trunk with a shortened baseball bat and a sledge....

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2600362709/
The Front end...

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2601192056/
Filthy cornering lights...I'm thinking to clean them the fastest would be to remove them, fill it 1/4 way with glass shot/sand/salt....something abrasive and shake the bajesus out of it....rinse and repeat...

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2601191588/
My stock rims.....all four center caps are gone. Lost them all in one day driving though the mountains in Montana...they also leak like a sieve.....got to put air in them once a week. Thank God my new wheels will be here tuesday!

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2601191358/
I bought those accent ports on an impulse buy.....Yesterday I mocked them up in front like everybody else has them and hated it....then I tried them on an angle in front...looked a lot better, but still hated it. So I decided to put them here. I made a template and went outside to install. My original plan was to put them on a "backslash" angle instead of a "forward slash" angle...but Captain Morgan said differently.....
*shakes fist at Captain Morgan*
Yes....I was hammered and put my template on backwards....
I'm kinda glad I did now.....with the new wheels coming it should look pretty aggresive....

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2600363551/

http://flickr.com/photos/25983056@N06/2600364253/

...I'm guessing my next mod will be 108 thermo, 104 plugs, accel coils and wires....Nothing has ever been changed since she was made....I think its time.

Wow, those ports actually look really good the way you put them on there! That's pretty original, if you ask me, and reminds me of the first generation Camaros!


Damn, that does need a lot of paint work on the back. Not sure what you can do about the dent, but here's a link on what to use and how to clean the cornering lenses:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/exterior-f12/yellowed-corner-lenses-t448-15.htm

Good luck!

Thanks IBx1...I wasn't sure about the ports but they are really growing on me. They're only temporary, of course, cause the whole car need repainting, but I thought it was a good time to try some exterior aftermarket stuff before she gets painted....probably next spring or summer....also if Corey gets those bumpers made that will be another reason to wait on paint. I'm thinking that I might use this:
http://www.decalfx.com/vinyl_sheets.html
along the bottom to even it out until then....

These are the wheels I have coming on Tuesday:



245/35R20

The Rivi has a new pair of shoes! They finally arrived...

Here's a mock-up...




...I can't wait to put them on this weekend.

Those look sweet.

i will be honest them ports look gay

also, why would you buy rims before fixing the body ? i know they do that in the ghetto. but still

Corey,

all four rims leak pretty bad...I have to refill them every week and its a pain in the ass. I tried fix-a-flat, that green goopy stuff, and even too them to a tire place but nothing worked. So the rims were more of a necessity issue rather then a cosmetic one...

Body work and paint will be done in August...I just got an estimate of $1500.00 to pull the dent out and a full color change on the paint...

at least you had a good reason, and 1500 is a great deal for body work like that

New Shoes!

I was actually shocked....SHOCKED...at how small the stock rotors and calipers are....holy crap....

They're bigger than you'd find on almost any car of the period, including Camaro's. I flipped through a few old magazines and the only car I could find with similiar sized rotors was a 911.

The rims look great! You need to lose the bra and portholes and get drop springs (and all the other work you said).

The bra was just to balance out that black rear bumper, and the ports will be gone with the new paint....I'm thinking black on the bottom, and a dark mineral grey on top....

Is drop springs something an average person can do or do I have to job it out? And how much drop? 1.5"? 2"?

Montaniera wrote:

The bra was just to balance out that black rear bumper, and the ports will be gone with the new paint...

Montaniera wrote:

.I'm thinking black on the bottom, and a dark mineral grey on top....

Sounds good if it works with your interior.

Montaniera wrote:

Is drop springs something an average person can do or do I have to job it out? And how much drop? 1.5"? 2"?

I believe the eibachs which should give 1" of drop gave ewolfe 3". I don't think you can get less.

You can change the fronts yourself following Aarons strut replacement write-up. I don't know about the backs. They don't coil around the shocks, they're between the body and the suspension arm IIRC. I'd like to know myself.

These are the current mods that I have on order:

Autolite 104's
8mm Accel 9046 Extreme Heat Reflective Wire Set
108* Intense Performance thermostat
Intense FWI kit w/ 9" K&N filter
Intense 3.40" MPS

did I skip anything in the order in which these mods should be installed? Should I install a 3" DP before installing the pulley, or will the pulley install be okay for 3 - 4 weeks before I can do the DP and a new exhaust system?

FWI install...

Paint scheme I'm thinking about....

I'm kinda digg'n this too...

I like both of those paint schemes actuallly... Not sure how i feel about the bra though.

the bra is to lift and support the headlights....its a 12 year old car!


no...its only on to balance out the black rear bumper I have.

I like the first one More.

with slight burnt orange flare/gradient coming off the front fenderwell...

Mark,

Is there anyway you could do that in satin black? I have been toying with that for a while.

what part?